Chapter 196: Fearless of the Ultimate Move
With over 200 drones entering the arena, the Radiant Dragon was immediately startled. It promptly rose, gathered its bio-electric field, and released an EMP.
A light blue halo rapidly spread outwards from the dragon's back. Upon contact, over half of the drones malfunctioned and plummeted from the sky.
They had intentionally omitted electromagnetic pulse protection and pre-programmed themselves so that if they suffered an excessive pulse and then crashed into a hard surface, the metal-hydrogen batteries within their bodies would automatically detonate.
Boom!
Over a hundred fireballs simultaneously blossomed on the arena floor and on the giant dragon's spine.
"Roar!!"
"Oh my heavens! The BOSS was enraged by the players' suicide drones right at the start of the fight!"
The commentator outside the arena was extremely excited, his voice nearly hoarse from shouting.
"Look! Its mouth is glowing! That's the plasma flame ability that can melt anything!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the live stream was filled with a white light. The dragon's head swung from left to right, then from front to back, causing the nuclear flame of this Dragon Breath to have an extremely wide range, engulfing the remaining fiber-optic drones that hadn't been destroyed by the EMP.
At the same time, Lu Yuan calmly pulled out a brand new communication antenna from his anti-EMP storage box on his waist, replacing the burnt one on his helmet.
This was the method to counter EMP damage to electronic components; the principle was very simple.
Just bring a few spare parts and protect them beforehand.
"Team One, enter the arena!"
The damage caused by the drones was negligible. Lu Yuan's arrangement was merely to lure the BOSS into expending some of its abilities and energy early on.
EMP could only be released once every approximately 180 seconds, and Dragon Breath was not unlimited either.
These were valuable lessons learned from previous wipeouts and probes.
"Remain calm, don't underestimate it."
He reminded himself inwardly.
Lu Yuan knew clearly that the Radiant Dragon would not be enraged as the commentator outside the arena had claimed.
Every seemingly furious action from this beast, if carefully re-evaluated and analyzed afterwards, would reveal itself to be the most logical choice.
In terms of emotional control, it even performed better than humans.
It was simply a cold, emotionless killing machine.
Ruthless, precise.
"Charge!"
Led by Black Smoke, 40 Engineers, holding large shields, poured into the BOSS battlefield through three ground passages.
Their power armor had almost no external plating, but their shields were three times the standard thickness, offering a large area of protection, and were additionally fitted with extra heat-resistant tiles on the front, covering them from head to toe.
Such a massive shield, even for high-strength characters with 【Hydraulic Muscle Fibers】, was an unbearable weight. They could only install small wheels underneath and push it forward, with very limited mobility, essentially making it a human-powered shield vehicle.
Seeing these "crawling ants," the formidable Radiant Dragon once again gathered heat and light in its mouth.
"Hold steady, endure one wave." Lu Yuan commanded.
"All shield vehicles slowly retreat, maintain medium spacing between each other, and prepare to lay down!" Black Smoke supplemented based on the actual battlefield situation. In this battle, Cangyuan used a two-tier command structure for the first time.
Lu Yuan, standing at the highest point, oversaw the entire situation, only responsible for strategic decisions in the broad direction. Each team was coordinated by its captain and commander, who managed the details and found every possible way to achieve the combat objectives set by the Executive Officer.
The Dragon Breath struck again.
The Engineers had already laid their shield vehicles as flat as possible to maximize the deflection of the incoming nuclear flames and reduce heat damage. They themselves lay down on the ground, using their hands and feet to firmly support the heavily angled shields.
The plasma fury, like the hand of a fire giant, mercilessly pushed against the 40 shields.
The flames lasted a full 5 seconds. When they finally ceased, the heat-resistant tiles on the surface of the ceramic-gold shields were in a semi-molten state.
"Team One reporting! All personnel alive!"
Black Smoke's voice ignited a cheer on the public channel.
"It worked! Jubian calculated the heat data perfectly, and it really didn't burn through!"
With Cangyuan's current technological capabilities, the only way to counter ultra-high temperature attacks was to minimize the projected area that directly absorbed energy, and then heavily stack materials for protection.
While the temperature of nuclear flames was insurmountable, the total energy was not.
Even a single sheet of paper, if stacked thick enough, would take some time to burn through completely when exposed to fire.
If a 10-centimeter shield couldn't withstand it, then thicken it to 30 centimeters and add another layer of heat-resistant tiles!
The Engineers' shields had a layered structure. After enduring a wave of damage, they chose to shed the front few layers that had already turned red-hot, preventing uniform heat conduction from reducing the shield's defensive power.
"Well done, Teams Two and Three, enter the arena and suppress the Radiant Dragon with firepower! Team One, continue retreating and begin earthwork!"
"Everyone! Stay close to me!"
Guo Li Cheng, wielding a greatsword, with her jet boosters at full power, was the first to charge towards the BOSS from mid-air.
She led Team Two, responsible for close-quarters combat damage.
Most of these individuals had undergone the "Space Elf" racial modification, possessing astonishing agility and coordination.
Upon entering, they used their flight packs to flip up and down in the air, flexibly dodging claw attacks and bites, then occasionally approaching the BOSS, seizing opportunities to inflict a bit of damage with their melee weapons and then retreating, never being greedy for more hits.
Guo Li Cheng once again displayed combat skills that were on an entirely different level from everyone else. Her frequency of striking the BOSS was nearly double that of her teammates, and every sword strike landed on critical areas of the giant dragon, such as its throat and wrists.
Why would a financial professional who monitored the US stock market every night possess such enviable talent for combat?
Players expressed their confusion, calling it a mystery.
Perhaps it was a blessing from some unspeakable deity—
"Brothers, attack!"
Prairie also led his team into battle. He commanded Team Three, equipped with plasma shotguns, primarily responsible for mid-range fire suppression.
"Come on! You also try the taste of 'Dragon Breath'!"
Guo Li Cheng: "Team Two, clear out! Give them a clear shot!"
Prairie: "Thanks, open fire!"
The delightful sensation of the trigger pulling transmitted through his fingertips. Dozens of plasma energy projectiles, like small suns, shot towards the Radiant Dragon. Their temperature was even higher than the Dragon Breath, and upon hitting the giant dragon's body, they immediately caused large areas of its biological armor to glow red and soften.
The giant dragon's massive body trembled violently, and its rear also lifted several meters.
Everyone thought it was going to jump from the pain, but Ye Xing, standing beside Lu Yuan, was the first to notice something was amiss.
"No, that tail-cocking angle... it's a tail swipe attack! Get to the ground quickly!"
Although the Executive Officer was the overall commander of this battle, no one would doubt Ye Xing's gaming intuition, nor his reaction speed in the moment.
Upon receiving the warning, Teams Two and Three landed on the ground in time, and then, as the thick dragon tail swept along the ground, they jumped up to avoid it.
"No, no, you're all crowded together again! Spread out quickly!"
Ye Xing once again detected a "crisis" in advance.
If the personnel were too concentrated, they would become excellent targets for the tail spikes' lethal damage.
"No! Maintain the current formation!"
At the critical moment, Lu Yuan issued a different command, and his tone was noticeably more emphatic than usual.
"Observe the Radiant Dragon's movements carefully. If it truly ascends, wait for my next command!"
Don't spread out? But that's a high-damage ultimate move that covers the entire arena!?
Up until now, everyone was somewhat worried about the BOSS's full-arena bone spike attack.
Although limited by the speed of bone spike metabolism, this ability could only be used once per battle, but this single ultimate move, if not handled properly, was enough to cause a team wipe!
The more people involved, the more tragic the casualties!
Everyone was stunned at first, but then, they still decided to follow what the Executive Officer said.
We are a professional team; we must obey orders and follow commands, even if it sounds very unreasonable—
【Gravity reduction detected】
A chilling alarm sounded in everyone's helmets.
Accompanied by exceptionally dazzling light, the giant dragon fully extended dozens of its wing cases, and in a profound silence, ascended into the air, its long tail raised high,
like an elegant grim reaper.
Immediately after, thousands of bone spikes emerged from its thick tail, and the "Azure Cactus" reappeared in the world.
Not everyone had the privilege of witnessing this full-arena ultimate move, jokingly referred to as 【Pear Blossom Storm】.
But those who had seen it knew that the moment this move was unleashed, individual skill would cease to matter.
Survival or death would then become a cold probability.
Was the Executive Officer really planning to leave success or failure to luck?